1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a portable telephone having a ten-key pad for inputting a plurality of kinds of characters, for example, numerical, alphabetic and/or Japanese characters, and in particular to a character input method using the ten-key pad for inputting characters to the portable telephone.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, portable phones with a smaller size and a lighter weight have been widespread. Many of such portable phones, that is, portable-type communication devices can store telephone numbers and other necessary information in the internal memory. In the case of storing a telephone number, not only the telephone number but also characters of the name associated with the telephone number must be inputted.
Therefore, in a conventional portable phone, as shown in the external appearance view of FIG. 9, ten keys for inputting telephone numbers and other data are used also for inputting numbers, alphabetic characters and/or Japanese characters. The respective input modes of numbers, Alphabetic and the Japanese characters can be switched by pressing a mode key 6b. A key input system of inputting a targeted number, alphabetic character or Japanese character by pressing one of the ten keys is adopted in general.
The number of alphabets and Japanese characters is larger than the number of numerals. Therefore, a plurality of alphabetic characters and Japanese characters are allotted to each of the ten keys. Furthermore, each character corresponds to the number of times a corresponding one of the ten keys is pressed. Consequently, in the conventional portable phone, a targeted character is selected among the plurality of the characters allotted to the ten key according to the number of key pressing repetitions.
As an example of the character input, the case of inputting xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d will be explained.
First, the alphabetic character input mode is selected by pressing the mode key 6b. The characters in the xe2x80x9cPxe2x80x9d column, to which xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d belongs, are allotted to the 7-key 6k. The targeted character xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d corresponds to the case of pressing the 7-key 6k four times. Then, when the 7-key is pressed four times, alphabetic characters xe2x80x9cPxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cQxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cRxe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d are indicated successively on a display 6a so that xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d at the fourth time is inputted.
As mentioned above, in selecting and inputting a character in a portable phone, in general, there is the need of pressing the ten keys for many times. Therefore, a problem is involved in that the character inputting operation requires labor and time.
Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication (JP-A) No. 63-304311 discloses a handy word processor provided with a key switch enabling input of four kinds of characters through a single key by the operation of inclining the key forward, backward, leftward and rightward. According to this conventional technology, the key pad can be made smaller by reduction of the number of keys.
However, the JP-A No. 63-304311 includes no description about inputting characters rapidly by using the ten keys in a portable phone, but it merely discloses the technology for reducing the number of keys in a word processor. Besides, characters corresponding to each key switch are arbitrarily determined in the word processor.
In contrast, portable phones with Japanese characters allotted to each ten key have already been used widely. Therefore, it is not preferable to change the conventional character allotment in each ten-key since it would cause inconvenience to the users who are used to using the portable phones.
Besides, conventionally, five characters in each column of the Japanese fifty-sound syllabary are allotted to each ten-key. For example, the five characters of xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cuxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9coxe2x80x9d are, in general, allotted to the ten-key of xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d.
However, the maximum number of contact points corresponding to one key switch is considered to be four. That is, in the case five or more contact points correspond to one key switch, it is difficult to distinguish the way of inclining the key switch, and thus generation of frequent input mistakes is anticipated. Therefore, it is difficult to rapidly input characters by merely inclining key switches without changing the characters allotted to each ten key.
An object of the present invention is to provide a portable telephone and a character input method, which are capable of inputting characters rapidly without changing the characters conventionally allotted to the ten-keys.
According to the present invention, a portable telephone having a ten-key pad which allows input of a plurality of kinds of characters. Includes each of keys of the ten-key pad having a plurality of contact points, at least one of which is selected depending on which position of the key is pressed; a table for each of the kinds of characters, the table containing correspondence between each position of the key and an individual character of a selected type of characters; and a controller controlling input of an individual character of the selected type of characters depending on a pressed position of the key by referring to the table. The controller determines an individual character of the selected type of characters depending on a combination of a pressed key of the ten-key pad and a pressed position of the pressed key. Each key of the ten-key pad preferably has five positions, one of which selecting all the contact points of the key.
Further preferably, the controller determines an individual character of the selected type of characters depending on a combination of a pressed key of the ten-key pad and a pressing count of a pressed position of the pressed key. More preferably, the pressed position is pressed once, a uppercase letter of the individual character is determined and, when the pressed position is pressed twice in a predetermined time period, a lower-case letter of the individual character is determined.
As mentioned above, according to the present invention, a character corresponds to a contact point individually so that the character corresponding to the contact point is inputted by pressing the corresponding position of the key. Therefore, in principle, a targeted character can be selected and inputted easily by pressing a key top once.
Besides, since all the contact points correspond to a character also in the case where all the contact points are selected at the same time, the number of characters larger than that of the contact points can be allotted to one ten-key. In other words, a targeted character can be selected from characters of the number larger than the number of the contact points by by pressing one ten-key once. As a result, characters can be inputted rapidly.
Further, according to the present invention, it is preferable that when the same position is pressed twice in a certain time period in the Japanese character input mode, a small character representing a double consonant or a contracted sound of the character corresponding to the contact point is inputted. As mentioned above, by pressing the corresponding position of a key twice, a small character representing a double consonant or a contracted sound can be inputted easily. Moreover, the number of the characters of a double consonant and a contracted sound is, in general, relatively small in the number of the characters to be inputted. Therefore, even if the key is pressed twice for a double consonant and a contracted sound, the input rapidity of the Japanese characters is not ruined substantially.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is preferable that when the same position is pressed once in a certain time period in the alphabetic character input mode, a uppercase alphabetic letter corresponding to the contact point is inputted, and when the same position is pressed twice in the certain time period, a lower-case alphabetic letter corresponding to the contact point is inputted.
As mentioned above, by switching the uppercase and lower-case alphabetic letters depending on a pressing count, input of the uppercase and lower-case letters can be switched easily. Moreover, since a targeted alphabetic letter can be selected by pressing twice at most, the alphabetic characters can be inputted rapidly.
It is preferable that four contact points are provided in each key. By providing four contact points, five characters can be selected in one key including the case of selecting all the contact points at the same time As a result, characters can be inputted rapidly without changing the characters allotted in each ten key in the conventional portable phones.
It is preferable that each of the ten-keys corresponds to a column of the Japanese fifty-sound syllabary. Therefore, the input key for a targeted Japanese character can be found easily so as to be inputted rapidly based on the principle of the Japanese syllabary without changing the characters allotted to the ten keys of the conventional portable phones.